Cooling unit po



M. F. 'BooTr-l IcooLmG UNIT FoyD REFPTGERATING' SYSTEMS 'sepa 8,1931.

INVEN'ro M. F. BOOTH COOLING UNIT FOR RRIGERATING SYSTEMS l `jRe. 18,182

sept-s, 1931.

Oiginl Filed Fer-a. 13,l 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

INVENTOR l v i l gzovozn ATTORNEY t Reissued Sept. 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT ori-ICE MORRIS BOOTH, l' SALEM, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO MULLINS MANUFACTURING PORATION, 0F SALEM, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK COOLING UNIT FOR REFRIGERATING SYSTEMS v Original No. 1,798,652, dated March 31, 1931,'Serial No. 428,621; led February 13,1930. Application for reissue tiled July 20, 1931.' Serial No. 551,818.

provements in the fabrication of the complete sheet lmetal unit and in the details of th novel completed unit.

More specifically, it is the object vof the present invention to provide a cooling unit preferably formed of a single sheet of metal,

the header and side walls of which are com-- pletely fabricated and formed prior to shaping the unit. In this case, the header and float chamber and the side walls are preferably .stamped from sheet metal, one or more of the'side walls being corrugated and the contacting portions between the corrugations being Welded together rior to distortion.

Another important eature of this invention resides in the manner of fabricating the unit whereby the side walls which are formed integral with the header, and which lead therefrom, are positioned above the point at which the ends of the sidewalls contact with the header. This not only results in marked eiliciencies in the operation of the unit but also results in a marked saving in assembly and fabrication.- The side walls which lead from the upper part of the header are preferably provided with a plurality of inlets but the ends of these side walls and particularly the corrugations thereof preferably terminate in a manifold which in turn may terminate in a single outlet. connected with the interior of the-header. This results in much stronger header construction, and particularly results in effecting a positive circulation of the refrigerant.

Other features reside in the details of construction as will be more clearly brought out in the specification and claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view illustrating the form of the unit aft-.er 'it has been fabricated and preparatoryto being shaped.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating one manner of forming the unit shown in 1.

- rum 3, the oor be one or inore of Fig; 3 illustrates a modified construction wherein the fabricated side walls are shaped to provide a plurality of sharp freezmg chambers.

Fig. 4 is a perspectivev view illustrating a modified step in the method of manufacture wherein the complete unit is formed from` two preformed halves.

Fig. 5 illustrates the preferred manner of positioning my novel unit within a cabinet.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a modifiedform of the invention wherein the unit including the header thereof is fabricated from two preformed sheets of metal, the two wings and the entire unit being welded together before being bent into shape.

Fi 7 is a front elevation of a further modified orm of the'invention wherein the re turn side of the passageways formed by the sheet metal sections termlnates at the bottom p of the header.

Fig. 8 is a somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating a unit embodyin the features of the present invention but a apt/ed to be utilized in connection with a refrigerating sy tem of the dry type.

The present unit may be fabricated from sheet metal into many different types and shapes of cooling units and for this reason the drawings must be. considered as morevor less diagrammatic. Regardless of the form of the cooling unit I referably fabricate the same from relativ y thin Ygauge sheet metal. In order to permit of quick and inexpensive assembly, this sheet metal is preferably sha ed to rovide a at side 1, a corrugated si e2 an a header portion or drum rupilted. e sheet metal blank is preferably initiall formed by stampin out the header or ate 'portionof the side wall 2 and then olding over the'same as. shown in Fig. 1. The corrugations 4 in this side wall preferably terminate in a'manifold 5 and this manifold 5 in turn terminates in a suitable connec conduit 6. There may ese. conduits 6 but one Y plained.

v When the two side walls are folded to gether, as shown'in Fig. 1, they preferably are inserted in a suitable stitching machine or other form of welding machine and the contacting faces 'of the two 'side walls, be#

' tween the corrugations, suitably secured together. The side walls may then ybe gradually bent so as to form the complete cooling unit and in Fig. 2 I have shown one form of so bending the side walls.

In forming the unit, the side wall imme- .diately adjacent the header 3"is preferably bent at an angle as at 7, then bentto form the' side wall 8. the bottom wall 9 and the spaced side wall 10. In Fig.- 2 the walls" 8. 9 and 10 form three sides of the unit, and the bottom part of the header and the inclined walls extendingfrom the header form' y the provision of the manifold 5 the ends of 11 to' the said walls arev not connected with the interior of the header.

The point 11 at which the conduit 6 enters the header'3 -is preferably at a lower level than the level at which the corrugations 4 lead' into the header 3, but both the level of the outlet conduit 6 and that of the inlet conduits' formed bv the corrugations 4 are preferably below the normal level of the liouid within the header.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a slightlv modified form of construction wherein the bottom wall is bent to form three separate sh arn freezing chambers. In this connection, it will be obvious that after the side Walls'are formed. as shown in Fig. 1, they may be shaped insubstantially any manner desired so as to form sharp freezing chambers completely surrounded bv refrigerant or only partially surrounded by refrigerant.

In fabricating the original sheets ofnietal before distorting the sides to form the cooling unit. I may formthe sheets in two integral halves, as best shownin Fig. 4.1 In this case the one half may be generally designated 13 and the other half 14, and it will be obvious that such two halves may be stamped out and fabricated to form the same relative unit as that shown in Fig. 1. The only exception would be the fact that .the header is formed in two parts with the result that the halves 15 will have to be welded or otherwise secured together. It will be obvious that the point at which the header y is divided may be substantially any point in' its circumference so that this methodof fabrication eatlyv assists in forming the inlet as will belater exf The main feature of the form of construction shown in Fig. 4 is the fact that the entire unit is formed from only two halves result that the vaporized refrigerant will rise and enter the header 3 and will in turn be replaced by liquid refrigerant which will flow outwardly through the conduit 6 and around the passageways of the cooling unit. Inasmuch as the outlet of gaseous refrigerant from the header is limited by the size of the exhaust passageway or the exhaust valve, it will be obvious that the outlet conduit 6 need o nly be approximately the same size as the gaseous outlet to the compressor. It will thus be seen that it is only necessary to form a single small opening'll ,in the header 3 which will reduce the possibility of leakage to a minimum.

In Fig. 6 I have disclosed ,the manner of forming a cooling unit somewhat along the lines of the unit disclosed in Fig. 4, in that the entire unit is initially formed of two sheet metal stampings. 'The upper stamping may be generally designated 16 and may consist of the semi-spherical header portion 17 and the two wings 18 and 19. Each wing is preferably provided with a series of corrlligations 20. thesev corrugations terminating in a manifold `21. i

The lower half may be generally designated 22 and preferably consists of a semi-spherical header member 23 together with the fiat wings 24 and 25. In assembling this unit, the two `halves16 and 22 are positioned together as shown in Fig. 6, and each wing inserted in a suitable stitch welding machine. All lthat is necessary is to stick each wing in such machine and feed the wing in'as the stitches are lnade longitudinally in between each corrugation 20. The pockets 26, formed at points adjacent the headers by the corrugations and the manifolds 21, may also be utilized in effecting a final welding or joining of the two sheet metal halves directly adjacent the header member. As the parts are secured together in the manner illustrated, the two wing `members may be bent as shown in dotted lines so as` to form the sharp freezing' chamber. If desired, it'will be obviousthat the wing members may be somewhat lengthened so thatthey may be bent` in the general form shown in Fig. 3.

A further modified form of construction is illustrated 'in Fig. i7 lwherein the-header lar is formed in one piece as shown in Fig. 1, but the sheet metal wall forming the passagewaysjs so formed as to terminate in a vertical wall 27 which preferably enters the header at a point adjacent the bottom thereof.

In Fig. 8 I have shown aunit of substantially identical construction to the unit shown in Fig.2 but inverted so as to be readily adapted-to a refrigerating system lof the dry type. In this modification, the conduit 6 enters the header 3 in the saine manner as shown in Fig. 3, and the intake conduit 30 for the incoming refrigerant preferably terminaes in a reduced nozzle 31 within the conduit (i. This reduced nozzle is slightly smaller than the inlet end of the conduit 6 with the result that any oil that should become trapped in the one side of the unit will drop back to the bottom of the header 3 between cycles of operation where itwill again be picked up by the suction line at the beginning of the next cycle. The suction line may be designated as at 32 and preferably is positioned at thebottom of the header 3. A

In each of Figs. 1 to 7, it will be understood that the ends of the boiler or evaporator may be closed in by suitable caps, the front end being closed by a suitable header cap as generally indicated in Figs. 5 and 7 whereby to receive the intake and exhaust valve structure.

It will be obvious that in each case- I have provided a pressed or stamped shee; metal evaporator, the header or boilerv chamber of which is formed of one contiguous Wall or, inthe example shown in Figs. 4 and 5, is formed of two walls "each of which is pressed out from sheet metal blanks and Welded at points longitudinally of the boiler. The boiler in each case is, therefore, so constructed as to have the greatest tendency to resist all strains laced thereupon by pressure within the boi er. Furthermore, the passageways formed by the sheet metal walls are addition- 'ally arranged so as to produce a positive thermo-siphon effect.

What I claim is:

1. A -cooling unit formed of sheet metal, comprising a substantially cylindrical' header terminating in two spaced Walls, said walls being bent to form side and bottom walls of a sharp freezing chamber, passagewa-ys in said walls and starting at said header for conducting refrigerant, a manifold at the end of said walls for connecting the ends of the passageways and means connecting the'manifold with the interior of the header.

2. A cooling unit formed of sheet metal. comprising a substantially cylindrical header terminating in two spaced Walls, said walls beingbent to form walls of a sharp freezing chamber, passageways in said walls and y starting at said header for conducting refrigerant, a manifold at the end of said walls for connecting the ends of the passageways and means connecting the manifold with the interior o'f the header, the point at which the manifold is connected with the header being below the level of the point where the two walls of` the header 'terminate in the Side walls.

3. A cooling unit of the type having a sheet' metal header and a sharp freezing chamber formed of walls fabricated to provide refrigerant passageways. the end of one wall'being formed by a'continuation of the header walls wherebythe passageways thereof connect directly with the interior of the header and the other end of the wall terminating in a manifold connected to an opening in the header.

4.v Arcooling unit of the tvpehaving a sheet 4metal header and a s arp lfreezing chamber formed of walls fabricated to provide refrigerant passageways, the end of one wall being formed by a continuation of the header walls whereby the passageways thereof connect directly with the interior of the header and the other end of the Wall terminating in a manifold connected to an opening in the header, said two walls adjacent the header slopinA outwardly and t downwardly and said manifold and passage- Ways connecting with the header at different levels. p

5'. A sheet metal evaporator comprising an outer one-piece shell having an arcuate portion and laterally extending side walls bent to forma sharp freezing chamber or chambers. an inner one piece shell having an oppositely formed arcuate portion andlaterally extending walls cooperating with the side walls of the outer shell, said two arcuate portions'registering complementally to form a. substantially cylindrical header,- one ofl said laterally extending walls being embossed to provide` passagewavs leading from said header, and a manifold formed in one of said walls and extending transversely of the passageways at a point adjacent the header.

A ,sheet metal evaporator comprising outer and inner shells fabricated to veach form a. portion of a cylindrical header and laterally and dovnwa rdlv depending-side Walls. one .of said side walls being corrugated and said corrugations being open at one end to permit weldingthe shells together in the spaces between their corrugations 'before bending, said Lwelded side walls being bent to form the sides and bottom of a sharp freezing chamber.

7. A sheet metal evaporator comprising outer and inner shells fabricated to each form a portion of a cylindrical header and depending side walls, one of said side walls being 'corrugated and said corrugations being open at one end and terminating at the other end in a manifold positioned closely adjacent the cylindrical header to permit welding the shells together in the spaces between their iso corrugations before bending, said Welded side walls being bent to form the sides and bottom of a sharp freezing chamber.

8. An evaporator, comprising outer and s inner shells each having arcuate portions cooperating to form a cylindrical header andV fold extending transversely across said first named corrugatioiis and spaced a short distance from said header, the two walls being secured together in the spaces between the corru'gations,

.9. A process of making an evaporator for a refrigerator from two sheets of met-al,

which consists in forming complementary header depressions in aportion of each sheet and laterally extending parallel eoi'rugations in one sheet, said corrugations opening at one end into said header portion and terminating near the opposite edge of said sheet, superimposing said sheets so that the header portions register, welding the sheets together on lines between the corrugations, and then bending the sheets thus secured together into the form -of an evaporator, the sheets being sealed by welding together the edges thereof.

10. A process of making an evaporator for a refrigerator 'from two sheets of metal, which consists in forming complementary header depressions in the central portion of each sheet and laterally extending parallel corrugations in one sheet, said corrugations opening atA oneend into said header portion and terminating near the oY posite edge lof said sheet, superimposing said sheets so that the header portions register, welding the sheets together on lines between the corrugations and around the edges andvthen bending the sheets thus secured together vinto the form of an evaporator.

- 11. The process of making a sheet metal evaporator, which consists in forming a substantially circular header portion withv laterally extending side walls and laterally extending corrugations in one wall, said corrugations opening at one endinto the header portion and terminating near the opposite end of the side wall, superimposing the lside walls together so that arcuate portions of the headerregister, welding the side walls together on lines between the oorrugations while said side walls extend laterally from the header in substantially the sameplane, and then bending the walls thus secured together into the form of an evaporator, the side walls being sealed by welding together the edges thereof.

12.l The process of making a sheet metal evaporator, which consists in forming a'substantially vcircular header.` portion with laterally extending side walls and laterally extending corrugations in one wall, said corrugations opening at one end into the header portion and terminating near the opposite end of the side wall, superiniposing the side walls together so that arcuate portions of the header register, welding the said walls together on lines between the corrugations while said side walls extend laterally from the header in substantially the saine plane, and then bending the walls thus secured together, startingfat a oint spaced from the header wall, into `the Form of anevaporator, the side walls being sealed by welding together the edges thereof.

13. A sheet metal cooling unit of the fiooded typecomprising a liquid and gas chamber, conduits formed by an extension of material forming the chamber and extending from a point along one side thereof and downwardly to define a sharp freezing chamber, an opening' in the Wall of said chamber, spaced from a point where said conduits lead from the wall thereof, a manifold connecting the ends of said conduits, and a conduit connecting said manifold with said opening in the said chamber.

14. A sheet metal evaporator comprising outer and inner shells fabricated to each form a portion of a cylindrical header, adjacent arcuate walls of said header contacting and extending laterally and substantially radially from said cylindrical header, laterally extending corrugations in said laterally extending walls to form passageways extending into the header, said contacting laterally extending walls being vwelded together around the edges and in the spaces between the oorrugations up toa point adjacent the header, said laterally extending walls being bent downwardly after welding between the corrugations and at a point spaced from the header to form a sharp freezing chamber, and

a corrugated manifold extending substantiall parallel with said header and connecting 110 tlie ends of said first named lateral corrugations. i

15. A cooling unit consisting of a symmetrical piece of metal folded upon itself on substantially center transverse line, the two wing 115 of the sheet being spaced at the line of fold to form a header and the remainder of the wings being secured together about their edges, internal passageways formed in at least one wing and extending from said 120 i header to near the opposite side of said unit, said wing portion of the unit .forming at least two sides of a sharp freezing chamber and means for closing the open ends of said header. v i .125

16. A cooling unit of the flooded ty e, comprising a float chamber the sides o which are formed of contiguous sheet metal walls, one of which' is corrugated, said walls meeting and contacting except for said corruga- 130 *Y adjacent walls closely tions and extending laterally from one side only of the chamber and then downwardly to form refrigerant passageways and atleast two walls of a refrigeratin chamber.

17. A coolin unit of the flooded type, comprising a hea er chamber substantially cylindrical in shape, the drum of said chamber formed from a single piece of sheet metal, said piece of sheet metal meeting and continuing asl adjacent walls to form the sharp freezing chamber vof the unit, said being permanently secured together and -formed to provide passageways for the refrigerant, and said walls extending downwardly and outwardly from the fioat chamber so as to provide inclined passageways for the refrigerant, and then downwardl to form an outer Wall of the sharp freezing chamber.

18. A sheet metal evaporator comprising an outer shell having an arcuate portion and laterally extending walls bent to form the outer wall of a portion of the top, side and bottom of a sharp freezing chamber or chambers, an inner one piece shell having an oppositely formed arcuate portion and 'laterally extending walls bent to cooperate with the top, side and bottom walls of the outer shell, the edges of said two arcuate portions meeting and registering complementally to form a substantially cylindrical header, the top vwall of the sharp freezing chamber formed by the laterally extending walls of the outer and inner shell being substantially flat and positioned substantially radially to the axis of the header whereby the plane of the top wall where it' merges into the arcuate walls from two sheets of metal, whlch consists 1n A of the header is substantially normal to the surface of the header, and embossed portions inbne of said laterally extending walls whereby to permit welding in between the ends of the laterally extending walls and up to points adjacent the substantially cylindrical header.

19. A sheet metal'evaporator comprising an outer shellof relatively thin gauge sheet metal, said shell having an arcuate portion and said arcuate portion terminating in a laterally extending wall, said wall extending substantially radially from the axis of said arcuate portion and being bent at a point spacedfrom the arcuate portion into a substan-tially vertical downwardly extending side wall of a sharp freezing chamber, an inner one piece shell of relatively thin gauge sheet metal having an oppositely formed arcuate portion and laterally extending walls cooperating with the radial and verti-l cal walls ofthe outer shell, said two arcuate said walls being inclined'downwardlyand outwardly, and the mint atjwhich said walls merge into the su stantially vertical, wall being substantially level with the bottom of `of said arcuate portion and in a at plane to a point spaced from the edge of the arcuate portion Where said wall is bent into a substantially vertical side wall of a sharp freezing chamber, an inner one piece shell of relatively thin gauge sheet metal having an oppositelyformed arcuate portion of substantially the same size and'shape as the arcuate portion of the outer shell, said oppositely formed arcuate portion cooperating with the first named arcuate portion to form a substantially cylindrical header, and having walls cooperating'with the walls extending from the arcuate portion of the outer shell, said radially positioned top walls extending slightly downwardly andthe point at which said radial and downwardly extending walls terminate in the vertical side wall of the sharp freezing chamber being substantially on a level with the bottom of the header, one of said radially extending walls being embossed to permit welding together of the complemental walls in between the ends thereof and at points closely adjacent said header.

21. The process of making an evaporator 'first stamping the sheets of metal to form embossed portions at predetermined points in eachsheet, an embossed portion in one sheet consisting of a substantially half cylindrical depression adapted to cooperate with the other sheet to form a header portion, forming laterally extending parallel embossed portions i'n one sheet, said embossed portions opening atone end into said header portion 'and terminating near the opposite edge of said sheet, superimposing said sheets so that the header portions 'and flat walls extending therefrom register, welding the sheets together around the edges and on lines between the embossed portion and up to points closely ad- A jacent the header portions, and then bending the sheets thus secured together to form two side walls and a bottom wall of a sharp freezing chamber.

22. A sheet metal evaporator comprising outer and inner shells fabricated to each form a portion of a cylindrical header, adjacent arcuate walls of said header contacting and extending laterally and substantially radially from said-cylindrical header, laterally extending corrugations in said laterally extending walls to form passageways extending into -the header, at least one of said corrugations terminating short of the header, said contacting laterally extending walls being welded together around the edges and in the spaces s between the corrugations up to a point adjacent the header, said laterally extending walls being bent 'after welding between the corrugations to form a shar freezing chamber, and a corrugated `mani old extending substantially parallel with said header and connecting the end of the corrugation terminating short of the header with one of the corrugations extending into the header. 23. A sheet metal evaporator comprising an outer shell having an arcuate portion and latorally extending walls bent to form the outer wall of a portion of the top, side and bottom i of a sharp freezin chamber or chambers, an inner one piece s ell having an oppositely formed arcuate portion and laterally extendy ing walls bent to cooperate with the top, side and bottom walls of theouter shell, the edges of said two arcuate portions meeting and registering complementally to form a substantially c lindrical header, the top wall of the sharp flreezing chamber formed by the lat'- erally extending walls of the, outer and inner shell bein substantially dat and ositioned substantie y radially to the axis o the hea'd# so er whereby the plane of the top wall where it merges into the arcuate walls of the header is substantially normal to the surface of the header, and embossed portions in one of said laterally extending walls whereby to permit 86 welding in between the ends of the laterally l extending walls and u to points closely adjacent the substantie y cylindrical header, one of said embossed portions formin a pasl sageway extending into the header an an ado jacent embossed portion terminating short of the header an a transversely 'embossed portion forming a manifold forconnecting the embossed portion terminatin short of the header with'the embossed portlon extendin into the header.

testimony whereof Iaix my si ature. y MORRIS F. BO TH. 

